Speed of Economic Recovery Linked to Chief Executive’s Best/Worst States for Business

The Great Recession might be over, but cities across the U.S. are fighting to get back the jobs they lost during the economic downturn. Each metropolitan area has been affected differently and some are rebounding more quickly than others.

The New York Times reported that only 26 of the U.S.’s 363 metropolitan areas have regained the jobs that were lost during the economic downturn. That is just over 7 percent. That means that 93 percent of U.S. cities are still struggling to get back to where they were a few short years ago. And for 80 percent of all cities, that full recovery could take 5 years or more.

Many of the cities that have already recovered (or are expected to recover in 2012) can be found in the state of Texas, according to the Times’ map. On the other hand, many of the major cities that aren’t expected to recover until 2014 or even 2018 can be found in California, New York and Pennsylvania.

The geographic distribution of recovery may not be a coincidence.

Texas was ranked the best state for business in Chief Executive’sBest/Worst States for Business 2011. Houston recovered its lost jobs over 2010-2011 and both Dallas and San Antonio are expected to recover the rest of their lost jobs in 2012.

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